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Medical Marvel: A 63-year-old woman in South Korea bit into a portion of squid and later felt "bug-like organisms" moving around in her mouth. According to doctors at the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda, Md., writing in a recent paper, the squid had probably expelled its spermatophores as if it were attempting insemination. (When squid is eaten in the West, the internal organs have been removed, but apparently not in South Korea.) A scientist who has worked with squid commented on the professional network Science 2.0, "I've probably had hundreds of spermatophores ejaculate on my fingers and never felt a sting." [Daily Mail (London), 6-15-2012]

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A start-up venture in Singapore announced in June that it has developed an adult diaper made of "Sofshell," a substance that hardens on contact and redistributes weight -- so that if seniors fall on their rear ends, the impact will be absorbed with a lesser risk of broken bones. One of the developers demonstrated by dropping a bowling ball on a cellphone protected by the material, and the phone suffered not a scratch. [The Straits Times (Singapore), 6-5-2012]

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Researchers at the National University of Singapore described, in a recent issue of the journal Biology Letters, how a certain species of male tropical spider seemingly improves its chances of successful mating by castrating itself after releasing sperm. The scientists hypothesize that testes-removal makes the male nimbler and better able to trick and outflank competitor males that attempt to reinseminate the same females. Improving their strategic mobility also enables the male to avoid being killed by the female, which is yet another hazard in the spider-mating process. [New York Times, 6-19-2012]